Wyoming 2025 Regular Session

Wyoming Senate Bill SJ0005 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	2025
2	2	STATE OF WYOMING
3	3	25LSO-07261
4	4	SJ0005
5	5	SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. SJ0005
6	6	Congressional term limits.
7	7	Sponsored by: Senator(s) Laursen, D, Driskill and Kolb
8	8	A JOINT RESOLUTION
9	9	for
10	10	1 A JOINT RESOLUTION requesting Congress to call a convention
11	11	2 of the several states for proposing an amendment to the United
12	12	3 States Constitution as specified.
13	13	4
14	14	5 WHEREAS, the framers of the United States Constitution
15	15	6 empowered state legislatures to be guardians of liberty
16	16	7 against future abuses of power by the federal government; and
17	17	8
18	18	9 WHEREAS, this power provides the several states with the
19	19	10 leverage needed to force Congress to act when it otherwise
20	20	11 does not want to; and
21	21	12
22	22	13 WHEREAS, the citizens of Wyoming and twenty-one (21) other
23	23	14 states, having passed statutes or state constitutional 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-07262
24	24	SJ0005
25	25	1 amendments placing term limits on members of Congress, were
26	26	2 overruled by the United States Supreme Court; and
27	27	3
28	28	4 WHEREAS, the Wyoming Legislature hereby joins with other
29	29	5 states in instructing Congress to draft an amendment for
30	30	6 congressional term limits and send it to the states for
31	31	7 ratification, failing which the states will act on their own;
32	32	8 and
33	33	9
34	34	10 WHEREAS, the Wyoming Legislature, a body of citizen
35	35	11 legislators, desires to restore rotation in office for
36	36	12 members serving in the United States Congress.
37	37	13
38	38	14
39	39	15
40	40	16
41	41	17That the Wyoming State Legislature hereby
42	42	18 applies to Congress, under the provisions of Article V of the
43	43	19 United States Constitution, for the calling of a convention
44	44	20 of the several states limited to proposing an amendment to
45	45	21 the United States Constitution to set a limit on the number
46	46	22 of terms a person may be elected as a member of the United 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-07263
47	47	SJ0005
48	48	1 States House of Representatives and as a member of the United
49	49	2 States Senate, subject to section 2 of this joint resolution.
50	50	3
51	51	4
52	52	5
53	53	6 (a) That the Wyoming State Legislature adopts the
54	54	7 application made under section 1 of this joint resolution,
55	55	8 expressly subject to the following reservations,
56	56	9 understandings and declarations:
57	57	10
58	58	11 (i) An application to the United States Congress
59	59	12 to call a convention of the several states under Article V of
60	60	13 the United States Constitution for the purpose of proposing
61	61	14 amendments to the United States Constitution confers no power
62	62	15 to Congress other than the power to call the convention. The
63	63	16 power of Congress to exercise this ministerial duty consists
64	64	17 solely of the authority to name a reasonable time and place
65	65	18 for the initial meeting of a convention;
66	66	19
67	67	20 (ii) Congress does not have the power or the
68	68	21 authority to determine any rules for the governing of an
69	69	22 amendment convention of the several states called under
70	70	23 Article V of the United States Constitution. Congress does 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-07264
71	71	SJ0005
72	72	1 not have the power to set the number of delegates to be sent
73	73	2 by any state to a convention, nor does Congress have the power
74	74	3 to name delegates to a convention. The power to name delegates
75	75	4 remains exclusively within the authority of the legislatures
76	76	5 of the several states;
77	77	6
78	78	7 (iii) By definition, a convention of the several
79	79	8 states to propose amendments to the United States
80	80	9 Constitution means that states shall vote on the basis of one
81	81	10 (1) state, one (1) vote;
82	82	11
83	83	12 (iv) A convention of the several states to propose
84	84	13 amendments to the United States Constitution convened under
85	85	14 this application shall be limited to consideration of the
86	86	15 specific topic expressly specified in section 1 of this joint
87	87	16 resolution and no other. This application is made with the
88	88	17 express understanding that an amendment that in any way seeks
89	89	18 to amend, modify or repeal any provision of the Bill of Rights
90	90	19 shall not be authorized for consideration in any manner;
91	91	20
92	92	21 (v) Under Article V of the United States
93	93	22 Constitution, Congress may determine whether the proposed
94	94	23 amendment shall be ratified by the legislatures of the several 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-07265
95	95	SJ0005
96	96	1 states or by special state ratification conventions. The
97	97	2 Wyoming State Legislature recommends that Congress select
98	98	3 ratification by the legislatures of the several states;
99	99	4
100	100	5 (vi) The Wyoming State Legislature may provide
101	101	6 further instructions to its delegates and may recall its
102	102	7 delegates at any time for a breach of a duty or a violation
103	103	8 of the instructions provided to the delegates, including but
104	104	9 not limited to the instructions and requirements specified in
105	105	10 W.S. 9-22-101 and 9-22-102.
106	106	11
107	107	12 (b) That this application be considered as covering the
108	108	13 same subject matter as the applications from other states to
109	109	14 Congress to call a convention to set a limit on the number of
110	110	15 terms that a person may be elected to the United States House
111	111	16 of Representatives and the United States Senate, and that
112	112	17 this application be aggregated with the applications of other
113	113	18 states for the purposes of attaining the two-thirds (2/3) of
114	114	19 states necessary to require Congress to call a limited
115	115	20 convention for the purpose of setting term limits on the
116	116	21 members of Congress, but that this application not be
117	117	22 aggregated with any other application on any other subject.
118	118	23 2025STATE OF WYOMING25LSO-07266
119	119	SJ0005
120	120	1That this application constitutes a
121	121	2 continuing application in accordance with Article V of the
122	122	3 United States Constitution until the legislatures of at least
123	123	4 two-thirds (2/3) of the several states have made applications
124	124	5 on the same subject.
125	125	6
126	126	7 That the Secretary of State of Wyoming
127	127	8 transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the
128	128	9 United States, to the President of the Senate and the Speaker
129	129	10 of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress,
130	130	11 the Wyoming Congressional Delegation and to the presiding
131	131	12 officers of each of the legislative houses in the several
132	132	13 states, requesting their cooperation.
133	133	14
134	134	(END)